


petal and phantom

by Ghostfries



Category: Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Light Angst, Spoilers, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:21:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27249496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghostfries/pseuds/Ghostfries
Summary: Yomiel comes home to not one but two Sissels.
Relationships: Sissel - Yomiel's Wife/Yomiel (Ghost Trick)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	petal and phantom

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Halloween! I have ghost trick brainrot again so i'm going back to four minutes before this fandom died

July 6th, 20XX.

It's a very special day for a multitude of reasons. Firstly, it's National Fried Chicken Day, which is a worthy cause in anyone's book. It's also Sissel's birthday, and she's very happy that the two occasions overlap.

Thirdly, and most recently, it's the day Yomiel completes his sentence.

It doesn't feel like a coincidence.

Sissel has counted down to this moment - it's the only reason she owns a calendar, let alone remembers what day of the week it is. 

"Only 1,310 days until I can see you again."

"Only 165 days..."

"Only a week..."

Now that she thinks about it, it sounds pretty pitiful. That calendar was the only thing keeping her sane for a long time. She doesn't have any family she can rely on. When Yomiel first was incarcerated, Sissel didn't know if she would make it. All the rumors circulating certainly showed who her true friends were, and they've been invaluable during her wait. In a way, she's also been doing her own 10-year stretch. She might as well have been in prison herself with how isolated she felt.

It was on one of those difficult days that she made a precious friend who would support her for the years to come.

She had been fiddling with a razor blade in the bathroom, trying to remove it from a disposable shaver she'd bought for one purpose. Her fingers shook so fiercely that it slipped out of her hand, clattering against the tile floor.

Typical... she couldn't even hurt herself right.

Before she could go to pick it up, the bathroom cabinet blew open from a sudden gust of wind, the thump making her startle. The spike in anxiety only worsened her fear, and she sank to the floor and began to cry. 

Normally, she would've confided in her fianceé on the rare occasions she felt this vulnerable. But Yomiel wasn't there. He wouldn't be there to see her for another ten years, and right then that felt like a death sentence.

When she paused for a breath, she heard a meow. A cat? It sounded close. Sissel looked around to see a black shape at the windowsill. A kitten.

Distracted, she made her way over to the other side of the bathroom.

"Hey there, little one," she cooed. "You're a cutie, aren't you?"

Before she had time to react, the cat jumped down into the house. Oops, probably shouldn't have left the window open. Although... she thought she'd closed it.

Sissel couldn't find it in herself to be mad. Yomiel had always wanted a cat, but she was a little wary of animals after being bitten a lot as a child. A black one, he'd said, he felt sorry for them because they were considered bad luck. Seeing one here in her own house in his absence made her heart ache.

The cat trotted around the room, taking in its surroundings, approaching the discarded razor blade on the floor. Sissel hurried to remove it, not wanting the poor thing to get hurt.

"No, no, kitty. Don't touch that, it's dangerous."

It stared at her, unblinking, as if to ask _what are you doing with it, then?_

This was ridiculous. She was really feeling judged by a stray cat she'd known all of forty seconds. It was probably just hungry. She stashed the item away atop the cabinet, out of reach. When she turned back, the cat had already disappeared further into the house.

Sissel went after it, eventually catching up after it stopped in the living room. She wanted to pet it, but she was afraid it might scratch her. While she was pondering whether or not to go for it, the cat butted its head against her palm, and she tried not to freak out.

Okay, Yomiel, you win, she'd thought. Cats are the best.

Since that day, the stray would come and go as it pleased. It would drop by every few weeks as if to check on her. Sissel even began to look forward to it. The warmth of such a tiny creature thawed the ice of solitude, bringing its own personal spring to her eternal winter.

So she's not surprised when it shows up on this special day. Yomiel will be so happy to return home to not only his fianceé but a feline bonus. She opens the window of her own accord this time, and the cat jumps in as it always does.

Sissel smiles as she strokes its fur. "You know, kitty, my fiancé is coming home today. He loves cats, I think you'll really like him."

The cat mews in assent.

They sit on the sofa together for a while as Sissel anxiously checks the clock. When did Yomiel say he would be here? Did he even give a time? She hopes it's soon.

Time ticks by torturously, every second an hour. She tries not to let her imagination get the better of her, the fear of something terrible having happened to Yomiel at the last minute. Just when she's deciding whether or not to put some TV on to distract herself, the doorbell lets out a shrill shriek.

Her hand brushes aside the curtain, peering at the front porch before she gets her hopes up. And she sees him standing there. It's unmistakably him - he looks exactly the same as when she last saw him, even down to the clothes he's wearing. It feels like a cruelly happy dream that will be snatched away once she crosses the border of the front door. 

A meow pulls her out of her stupor, and she gets up, a nervousness welling up as she walks. Will he be the same? Different? Sissel knows about what he did at the park that day. Can everything go back to normal after what he'd suffered... what he made that little girl suffer?

More than anything... will he still be the man she fell in love with?

Sissel opens the door, taking in the sight of him for the first time in ten years. With how he stares back, he's probably doing the same thing. They're both looking at each other, readjusting themselves to their new selves.

"Hi," Yomiel breaks the silence, voice barely above a whisper. There's a watery smile on his face as he forces himself to speak. "Been a while."

She feels tears welling up already. She wants everything to be nice for his return, and being reduced to a blubbering, hiccuping mess is not how she planned her ideal reunion to go.

"Hey, hey, don't cry already." He says, wiping her eyes. "I didn't think I looked _that_ bad."

Sissel blushes a little, looking away. "Y-You're crying too!"

"What? No I'm not." Yomiel protests, fiddling with something behind his back.

"Then take off those glasses and prove it," she sniffles. Yomiel pauses for a second before laughing loudly.

"Can't get anything past you, can I?"

Sissel's full-on sobbing now, the sound of his voice that had gone unheard for years bringing back so many memories. Without further ado, she rushes down the steps and holds him crushingly tight.

"I missed you," she murmurs, her tears and snot staining the front of his clothes. She's pretty sure she must look like the ugliest woman in the world right now, but neither of them could care less.

"Not as much as I missed you." He replies, and despite Sissel's initial desire to disagree, she gets the feeling he really means it. They stay like that for a while, as if afraid the other will fade away if they turn their backs. She doesn't notice how much pressure she's putting into the hug until Yomiel gives a sharp groan of pain.

"Yomiel! Are you okay? I'm sorry, I..." She recoils.

"It's fine. Just my back acting up," Yomiel attempts to reassure her.

"Your injuries... how are they?" asks Sissel.

"Well, I can walk on my own now, at least." He shrugs. "But there isn't really any recovering from getting your spine crushed by a giant hunk of concrete."

His morbid sense of humor is just another addition to the laundry list of things that haven't changed about him.

Sensing her discomfort, Yomiel subtly changes the subject. "I don't mind it, though. I'm glad to be alive."

Sissel nods, swallowing thickly. "We should go inside, and you can sit down."

"That would be nice."

She turns to walk back inside.

"Ah, Sissel, wait a second."

She pauses, staring back at him. He's holding a bouquet of flowers. Pink camellia and white peonies peek out at her from inside the wrapping. 

"Happy birthday."

Sissel gingerly accepts the gift, clutching the stems to her chest like a lifeline. So this is why he was late. "Thank you, Yomiel. I... I don't know what to say..."

Yomiel smiles. "I'm glad you like it."

"Come inside," Sissel says, thinking about where to keep the flowers. "I'll find somewhere to put these."

She recedes back into the house, not missing how dazed Yomiel looks as he takes his shoes off. There's a gap on the rack, one that she refuses to fill with her own shoes.

They go to the living room, Yomiel looking around incessantly as if seeing his own house for the first time. Sissel goes to take a seat, only to see the cat already there. She completely forgot about it with everything going on.

"Oh, right," Sissel says happily as she puts the flowers into a nearby vase. "This is my little buddy. He's been dropping by for a few years now, I think he's a stray."

Yomiel stiffens a little before slowly kneeling down to eye level with the cat, who just meows. After a few seconds, he picks it up and straightens up. "Nah, he's not a stray. See how calm he is with people?"

Sissel is a little bit jealous how quickly it's taken to him.

"Came by to see me, did you, old friend? That's a good kitty." Great. Now Yomiel's completely distracted and is gushing in a way that a man of his age has no right to. Old habits die hard.

Sissel clears her throat and he looks at her guiltily. "S...Sorry. Forgot myself for a minute."

At that, she can't help but giggle. He really is the same as back then. There's a weariness in him, the tiniest hint of their bitter past, but it's okay.

They have all the time in the world to sort everything out, after all.

"Are you hungry?" Yomiel asks, trying to push for normality. "After putting you through... all that... I figure the least I can do is make you a nice hot meal."

Sissel glances at the calendar, biting her lip. "About that... do you know what day it is?"

"Your birthday?" suggests Yomiel.

"Other than that."

"Hmm, I don't know. What?"

"It's National Fried Chicken Day," says Sissel smugly.

"...You want to go to the Chicken Kitchen, don't you?" Yomiel mutters, reading her mind.

"Can we? They have a discount today, so..." She fidgets.

"That sounds good to me." He nods. She claps her hands in delight.

"Let's go, then. I don't know how long they're open for," Sissel says, sliding her hand into his and practically pulling him out of the room.

Yomiel looks back to see the kitten's gaze fixed on him. He chuckles. "We'll bring some back for you, don't worry."

Apparently satisfied, it curls up and closes its eyes.


End file.
